Repeating History
by Quincette
Summary: Lord Youkai of The West despises mortals, his sire who'd taken a mortal as his mate and the hanyou born from the union. But as his human pet starts leaving her childhood, will everything stay the same? Or will eventually the history repeat itself?
1. The Blooming

**Konniciwa Minna-san**

**Thank you for deciding to read this fic ^_^v**

**This is written in 2003 (yes 9 years now and riddled with a boatload of grammar mistakes and thesaurus abuses that I decided to rewrite most part of it) Now that the series has ended, this I guess is considered as an alternate reality where Rin does not live with Kaede and follow Sesshoumaru until she comes of age.**

**Enjoy….!**

**I own Inuyasha _not, _Rumiko Takahashi does, no profit gained from this fic except your attention (I hope)**

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**Repeating History**

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**Chapter One : The Blooming **

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It was supposed to be a nice day spent walking under the sunlight around a human-populated place for her, away from the constant prattle of the annoying little toad youkai. Rin smiled; Jaken would turn a nice shade of green when he's vexed and he _would_ turn to one when he realized that she had left him inside the chaotic bustle of the market.

Honestly! She just wanted to look around so much without people staring back at, or worse, run away screaming from her because she had a youkai waving two impaled human heads at her heels. As much as Jaken like to think himself so refined, he would never blend in a crowd. He would reward her with some thumping on her head for sure, but she reckoned she would dodge it easily; even with _nintoujou_ on his hand, that kappa couldn't reach her easily now, for she had grown much taller.

But she still felt some stare on her. It made her uncomfortable. _Is there something wrong with me? _ Was her first thought. She took a good look at herself; there was nothing wrong with her. She looked like a human girl supposed to look like; there was no sign _'I live with Lord Youkai of the West'_ written in her forehead or something. What were those people staring at?

Someone whistled as she passed a bevy of men lounging in a sake house. Side-street vendors' calling passersby to take a look at their wares. Music was in the air, courtesy of street-performers dressed in vibrant colors. It was so busy, and almost too exciting for her; spending months inside the woods in absence of human contact played a huge part in her boredom, and her playing truant.

But amidst the sounds, she noticed a distinct set of steps, everywhere she went. She threw glances over her shoulder time and again to see if someone was indeed stalking her, but she saw only throngs of people in blurry features. She shrugged, maybe she was just being too sensitive, she blamed it on the youkai-kind; she had encountered them so many time that she lost counts and her mortal survival instinct had been honed to notice their presence, or the subtle signs of there of, and she could sense if something was hunting her…

But she was not inside the forest, she wasn't trespassing some youkai's territory, she was amongst her own kind, her fellow human being… What was the worst could happen anyway? So she shoved that thought away and decided to enjoy herself.

As the sun inched higher on the cloudy sky, she decided to go back to the forest. She trailed back the narrow path leading to the shaded green foliage. The further she walked, the quieter the ambience grew. Voices faded away, but not those steps, she realized. They were no longer concealed, they were not only in her imagination.

She glanced back once more and caught a sight of a figure, a man. She couldn't see his face, for it was hidden under the shade of a wide veiled sunbonnet.

For some reason she felt alarmed and unconsciously hastened her pace, hoping that the man was just coincidentally heading the same direction. But to her dread, the sound of his steps adjusted to hers.

_He is following me!_

She found herself running to the deeper shade of the forest. She let out a gasp of shock as pair of arms seized her waist and violently slammed her against a tree. Reeling from the pain on her sides, she took a look at her assailant. A tall, stocky man whose face crisscrossed with scars was attached to the arms that pinned her. A wide, loathsome grin tugging on the corners of his cracked lips.

"Hello there gorgeous!" he rasped, with an equally loathsome voice, "Alone I see, hm?" his grin grew wider, wrapping the girl's small wrists in painful grip.

"Let me go!" she shrieked.

Her protest was met with a mocking laughter, "_Yare-yare_… It's not safe for you to wandering around unescorted prettyface! Better to stick around with me!" he taunted, taking pleasure from the girl's feeble attempt to wrench her hands free.

"Let me go!" Rin struggled harder, yanking her hand in desperation. She should have just run back to the woods the second she realized that someone was stalking her, but she didn't, oh how stupid she was…

"Or…?" her stalker mocked, inching closer at her. The girl flinched at the smell of stale sake on his breath.

She gritted her teeth both in anger and fear. She mustered her strength and kicked him between his legs. The man let out a surprised squawk, but undeterred. Laughing, he pinned her shoulders to the tree, "Playing hard to get ne? _Yariman! Ama onna_! You led me here in first place! Now stop fussing about and we'll both get what we want!" he hissed, fumbling on her obi, trying to undo the knot.

The girl flinched, lead him there? _What do this man mean?_ But she sensed someone coming and panic seized her. She pleaded "Let me go. Please let me go while you have the chance." _Can't he smell the danger coming?_

Mocking laughter again.

She felt her clothes being yanked away, and her shoulders exposed to the chilly air. She closed her eyes and braced herself…

From the depth of the woods a warm draft came. Oh, how she wanted to run towards it and seek his protection, and throw herself at his mercy before everything turned –

Something warm and thick spattered her face, and that grip was no more.

She opened her eyes and saw the man, or what was left of him - a lump of lifeless meat. A red gash opened his chest, down to his groin, and he's missing half his head, horror frozen in his remaining eye. Blood was pooling on the grassy earth, dark red on dark green.

This shade of red again, this smell again, she could taste the coppery tang in the air at the back of her mouth. She had seen blood spilled more times than she cared to remember but she always suffered the sick, nauseating feeling that came with seeing it, or by smelling its raw, metallic scent.

He'd killed again.

"Rin."

She swallowed the lump caught in her throat and turned to gaze the owner of the voice, "… Se-Sesshoumaru-sama…" she stammered. She didn't realize that she was crying until she heard her own voice; hoarse and faint.

The youkai had taken another life, again.

The youkai had saved her, again. And again. And again.

The warm, spreading pool of blood touched her feet; she gazed down, not so sure of why she felt so miserable. The man was going to harm her, she knew, and he got what was coming to him. Even so, seeing him slaughtered was–

"Can you walk?" the same voice broke her thought, its tone even.

"_H-Hai_." she managed to answer, and so she stood up.

The daiyoukai turned back on his heels and headed inside the woods without more words. None needed for the girl to trail his steps. She took a few strides before throwing back a glance, to the bloody corpse, and saw the fear that trapped in his dead eyes.

"Don't dawdle you spoiled mortal!" called Jaken from his master's side.

"_H-hai_…" she replied, still had her vision locked on the gruesome scene. She had warned him, she thought, with a vague sense of guilt. She turned away and ran to catch up with them, leaving the corpse to feast the hungry residents of the woods.

She had warned him…

Sesshoumaru flicked his claws in annoyance, allowing a bit of his poison to flow out. Disdainfully, he watched the blood and bits of flesh staining his hand vaporize with a soft hiss. He shouldn't have bothered to kill such a lowlife with his own hand, he could have simply ordered Jaken to do it for him, he didn't know what had gotten into him, what a waste of use.

"_Anou_… Sesshoumaru-sama…?"

He glanced aside and found Rin's face, concerned and blood-spattered. He stopped walking, looking the human infant in the eyes. He noticed that he didn't have to lower his gaze as much, for the vertical distance between them had been rapidly closed by the girl's growth in past few summers. Time did run… at least for human, for he found no particular change in himself.

Rin parted his lips, trying to arrange the jumbled words inside her head into proper sentence, gratitude and apology at once.

"I'm… sorry, Sesshoumaru-sama, I didn't know what that man would–"

"I told you never to part from Jaken for reasons Rin." he cut her short. He needed no explanation from the girl. She reeked of that dead _ningen_, it irritated him. He had spent some time to track her scent; that light airy fragrance of moonflower, when he had found it moving, fading beyond his senses. And now that he'd found it, it was overwhelmed by this pungent odor of a filthy mortal male. A _drunk_ filthy mortal male. _In heat _nonetheless.

It's always very true, very predictable, human nature; curious over everything, do whatever they were told _not_ to, suffer the consequences, and feel sorry for themselves after; and eventually repeat the cycle all over again...

The girl winched and broke their eye contact, opting to stare at the ground instead. She sensed the tension beneath the Lord Youkai's level tone. She was being reprimanded. Having no words good enough to apologize, she stood still, letting the youkai's icy, disapproval gaze wash over her.

He scanned her briefly, took his lavishly embroidered haori off and handed it to her,

"Cover yourself," he ordered and resumed his pace.

…and it was what so expected of a _male _human when catching their counterpart walking around in their boring broad daylight wearing a thin yukata that exposed a bit too much of her femininity. Those disgusting _ningen_ and their ceaseless lust to mate! No wonder the world was infested with so many of them.

Rin stared at him, half bewilderedly, before wrapping herself with what he just handed. The cloth was thick, but held a certain lightness and softness all together. It was the warmth much needed.

"_Anou_… Sesshoumaru-sama, where are we going?" this time the interruption came from the toad.

"Where do your puny little head think?"

"As far as this humble Jaken remember, this path is leading to Okinkumo's lair Sesshoumaru-sama," he hesitantly replied.

"Then don't ask what you have already known," he silenced Jaken.

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Rin trailed the two youkai silently, feeling a bit unnerved by the surroundings; it was getting darker and darker. The air was tinted by a thick, eerie mantle of the unearthly presence. The girl had no doubt it came from a powerful youkai. A powerful youkai _nearby_.

They were heading to a seemingly dead end. But then she realized that the vast solid wall before them was an enormous trunk of a tree, one with a timber spanning so wide, height soaring so high and foliage growing so thick they dimmed the light into a complete darkness before it had a chance to touch the ground.

"Sesshoumaru-dono?" a whispery feminine voice greeted the Youkai Lord.

"Okinkumo." he replied.

"Ah… this Okinkumo wonder what has brought you here…, _Douzo_." the disembodied voice spoke again.

Rin gasped as the ground shook. Something was rising from the floor of the woods. Thick tendrils of roots rose and parted, revealing a dark passage inside its wooden trunk. Her master promptly went in, followed by his two hesitating subjects.

They arrived in a chamber, dimly lit by countless twinkling lights –those, she realized after a few moments, were countless fireflies scattered on the circular wall. The interior of the tree was a nest. It was not so vast that she could make out the perimeters clearly, but the ceiling… She looked up and her eyes widened at the sight; more and more wall of fireflies, forming a glowing tunnel around the chamber's dark cylindrical hollow, indicating how high the ceiling was. Among those twinkling lights, she made out pairs of glinting larger orbs in various colors…

_Youkai…_

Alarmed, she inched closer to Sesshoumaru.

There was a sound of something, some clicking, rhythmic thumps of something – _things_, approaching them out of the darkness. A figure loomed out of the shadows; a torso of a woman, no, a _female ,_ a she-youkai; a beautiful one it seemed, but for the extra pair of her hands, and whatever her equivalent of legs that clicked noisily under her long, layered, richly embroidered uchikake.

Eight spindly legs, she guessed. O kin kumo – _golden spider_.

"What does Lord Youkai of the West need so much that he bothers to grace this humble lair of mine with his presence?" she purred, presenting Sesshoumaru a polite bow.

"I have a need of your service Okinkumo," he replied the courtesy with a curt dip of his head.

"Ah, joy indeed to know that you still consider my craft worthy of you… as usual then?" she looked at the Lord Youkai with her pair of eyes – which Rin was taken a back to see–had two irises in each. But the she-youkai didn't appear to notice her presence.

"No. Not for me this time. For her."

Rin shied away a little as Sesshoumaru referred to her.

Four amber orbs turned to stare at her, their black pupils dilated in surprise. The she-youkai did smell a scent of human on the Lord's person, but she had taken it as only a residual whiff of… his previous meal mayhaps? And she had been too anxious to present a proper protocol of welcoming him to her lair that she had not noticed her presence until that very moment.

She narrowed her eyes; a female mortal? A_ living_ one at that? The Lord Youkai of the West brought a living mortal with him, as _not_ for his meal? The Lord Youkai who despised his sire for taking a mortal female for a mate? The Lord Youkai who despised human over all creatures? How? She was greatly fascinated.

"You will oblige us, Okinkumo?" asked the said Lord Youkai, his tone slightly raised.

_Us? _

Sesshoumaru, of course, did not miss the she-youkai's curiosity, with the change on her demeanor; she might as well have questioned him directly. His tone was to remind her that it was none of her business. And to hint that she would _not_ want it to be her business.

The she-youkai fully understood it, "At once, My Lord! Please, make yourself at home while I–" she paused, "–attend to her," she countered, deciding to curb her inquisitiveness and stay away from displeasing her sovereign.

Sesshoumaru's gaze softened, "Bring her to me as soon as you 're done with her," with that he turned away, swallowed by the shades, leaving Rin there with she-youkai and her looming hordes.

Rin couldn't stop herself from flinching as the golden spider touched her cheek and traced her jawline with her long, willowy, dead-white fingers.

"Hmm… well-shaped I must admit…" she said, almost to herself, "Tell me, mortal, who are you to Sesshoumaru-dono?"

Rin was more than a bit intimidated by her quadruple stares, but knew the she-youkai wouldn't harm her, not when The Lord Youkai of the West has told her to bring her back to him. Now, actually answering her question was harder, what was she indeed to her Lord? She was Sesshoumaru's… pet? She was suspicious that there wasn't a term more proper or acceptable to youkai-kind to describe their apparent relation other than that… but she found that she didn't like to be referred as a mere pet…

"I don't know," she blurted.

"I've been travelling with him since he revived me from wolf attack when I was little…" she added breathlessly.

Was that an acceptable answer? She wondered.

The she-youkai arched her eyebrows, "Oh?" so that rumor was true then, she recalled. There had been a scuttlebutt in youkai-kind rumor mills about Lord Youkai of the West taking a human infant into his custody, which most of them dismissed as a nonsense, a mere delicious, presumptuous scandal.

It had been too famous for them of how much the said lord loathes the creature so-called humans. But some of them believed that he had somehow acquired his sire's taste for human and gotten himself a child, others had said it was an experiment with a weapon gone bad, other said he had merely kept his food alive to keep it fresh while on his annual journey inspecting his domain. The rumor fed the gossip circle a long while for Sesshoumaru's a figure greatly fascinating due to his solitary tendency.

Neither of the speculation true then, but the rumor was right, he did bring along a human with him in past few years –raised her even…, My, my… strange… strange-strange-strange…

"What would you do to me?" she heard her voice hitched.

Most of mortals would have lost their voices in fear after seeing a youkai nest, but this one was brave, she'd give her that, "You'll see," she said, and that line reminded her of what things she would better start to do.

A sheer, golden string shot out of the female youkai's hand, up to the darkness, so fine it disappeared few meters from her sight. Then with a sudden movement too fast for Rin to see she locked a steely arm around her waist.

And then the ground was no more. they zoomed off, up and up, passing the glimmering vertical tunnel in such a speed that all Rin saw was glittery blur. She only had had a moment to let out a startled gasp and clutched the youkai's _uchikake_ for her dear life.

Next thing she knew, she was standing in some translucent web woven from thousand silky strings attached to the surrounding walls. She gazed down and her breath caught on her throat. The ground was no where to be seen; she stayed very still, afraid that even a single movement could damage the fabric suspending them and let her plummet down to her death.

A low chuckle came from the she-youkai, "Worry not child, I spun this web myself, a dozen youkai couldn't bring this down," she purred,

"Now, Where do we start?" she took a glance at the girl's clothes for the first time; and recognized her own work. She considered the embroidered _haori_ one of her masterpiece, and still remembered the appreciating look the Lord Youkai gave it for the first time she presented it to him.

_He allowed a human to wrap their mortal body with it?_ My, my again, she should have felt scandalized by that, but that feeling was overwhelmed by her ever growing curiosity, "Undress yourself." she ordered flatly.

Rin took a moment before she did what the she-youkai asked, being rather reluctant to part with the lingering scent of her lord. Her ivory skin tingled in the lost of the warmth.

Again, the youkai's four pupils contracted briefly. She tilted her head in an observing manner. Budding beauty, it was what she saw on her, a growing, blooming promise. An impression of a creature somewhere between an adolescent and a young woman.

Obviously the yukata she's wearing was not adequate to hide her curves, not to mention the hem barely skimmed her knees. It was meant to clothe a child, and allow the said child running around clumsily without interruption. A 'child' this human is not anymore, and that kind of yukata on her might be found too… _provocative_ by some of male population.

Or had the Lord Youkai himself been provoked? Never, she thought, not ever she and the rest of western youkai-kind heard about their lord had taken interest, neither love nor lust, on any female being. Either he had no interest in the matter or that he had been very _very_ discreet. After he brought the mortal there to her place, would they eventually hear anything more about it? But of all youkai-kind, why a human?

She sighed outwardly; yes this human could be funworthy, and perhaps the lord brought her to her place to be beautified–nay–_garnished_? She could tell by the girl's scent, that she was still holding her innocence, none had put a claim on her before. Mayhap the Lord Youkai himself intended to pluck her personally?

To reveal or to conceal? She mused. She could do either of that, she could turn a beast into a belle, it wouldn't be so much effort to uncover a beauty that had already been there… but that's a human, why should she waste her skill for a mere ephemeral being?

But her lord sovereign had been benevolent enough to let her and her swarm stay within his domain. Because to not do her best would be insulting no one but herself, for she had been too proud of her extraordinary expertise, she vowed to herself that she would never create something short of splendor.

Finding herself a good excuse to waste her work on the mortal instead of giving in to her youkai nature to devour her slowly with her web, she waved her hands in the air, calling in her swarm to aid her crafting the work.

Rin stood unblinking, mouth slightly ajar witnessing what's probably the most amazing thing she'd ever witnessed in her life. Tens, hundreds, of spiders coming – gliding – from all directions, dangling in delicate strings of every imaginable colours.

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The sun was setting, leaving a shade of mauve and a warm vermilion blended exquisitely. Its golden radiance turned into a colour of dying ember, splendid, yet subdued enough to be gazed directly.

Jaken had always known his master's partiality towards such scenery. He understood why the Lord Youkai indulged his rare spare times sitting quietly enjoying the view, absent of humans and their wars.

But, he, lately, being the one who had been on his side since he was still counted as a pup princeling, could feel a shift inside of his master. It was slowly displacing him, and his instinct said it wasn't good. He thought he had, if not figured, understood his master all over, but that thought had been plagued with doubt since the day he revived the human infant.

Since then he felt that like had dedicated his loyalty to an unpredictable stranger. Sesshoumaru still held that insurmountable youkai pride of his and that magnificently aloof, cold superiority that could only came from royal lineage. And of course that intense loathing of humans – apart from that human whelp. All of these qualities, were what made Sesshoumaru the new Inu No Taisho, Daiyoukai of The West, and those were the things that define his actions and his decisions that had proven successful in creating a delicate balance in the westernland's politic.

There had always been those who lurked in the shadows, waiting, plotting for his master to show them his weakness, topple him and seize the reign. Reputation was all that matters, and his current reputation was a fairly firm shield protecting him from a horde of usurpers, it had to stay – it had to be maintained – like it was, for a single change could be a gap, a catalyst leading to destruction.

Like his sire's mortal mistress.

And as the human infant grew, so did his concern, for she _was_ a change. She would keep changing and might drag his lord with her. Whatever it was that exist between them, it was also growing alarmingly. It must be contained before everything got out of his master's hands.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" _oh speak of the devil._

The Lord Youkai tore his gaze from the scenery to where the voice was calling. He felt a tug on his chest as his eyes found her. She was clad in a long, layered _furisode_ in all possible colors of spring, complimented by the tinge of blush that graced her cheeks.

"Okinkumo-sama made this for me," she beamed, twirling in her steps so the Lord Youkai could see the newly made clothes in its full splendor.

Sesshoumaru blinked, his composure seemingly unaffected. But his eyes were completely locked on the human girl displaying her joy in front of him, by her beaming smile, by her ebony silken strands, that was loosely braided, by her smooth neckline, all of her. She seemed to absorb all the beauty in the surroundings, and projected it back more vibrantly.

"_Arigato_ Sesshoumaru-sama," she whispered.

Sesshoumaru nodded curtly, her master was never one rich in expression. But for a fleeting second she could have sworn that she did see something shifted inside his golden pools, a mixture of appreciation and maybe something else.

But it was very brief indeed, as the Lord Youkai turned his eyes on the she-youkai who stood behind Rin. Her face was serene, inside she smiled gleefully, for she did not miss a single fleeting reaction, intentional or not that had reflected on the Lord Youkai's cold, handsome face. The mere reaction he had given seeing the human wrapped on her work was a most rewarding compliment. But what's more to her, this was an invaluable token of information to youkai-kind society, what with the story she could tell about their sovereign and his pretty little pet.

"Excellent work Okinkumo," muttered the Lord Youkai. His compliment was sincere, but there was something else in beneath the tone; something bothered, almost remorseful.

She of course heard it too, and savored it. Now it was up to the Lord Youkai; she hoped that her work would provide him a worthy embellishment in whatever it was he was going to do to the mortal, alive or dead, or the various state in between.

On the other hand, Jaken, was cursing the spider youkai for her unwitting contribution in what he feared was the end of Sesshoumaru as he knew him, as _anyone_ knew him. He was seething. Curse the she-youkai for revealing this little infant's feminine allure. This human, _this_ human was not the random hunk of living flesh some youkai would pick from a random village to toy around with and kill and or eat afterwards. This _female_ has been with his master for far far too long. She somehow some impossible way had manage to get a hold on him!

He was very afraid, for he too, sensed his master's momentary surprise; his appreciation in seeing Rin, and he too, knew what kind of emotion his master was getting himself into and it was nowhere near good for him. And to make matter worst; his master himself was seemingly unaware of it.

But no, the Lord Youkai did realize, on his own way, that he was intrigued by this growing human girl, in a different way than he already was. A small part of him was delightedly charmed, but more of it was furious that it was feeling that way about it. And wearily he knew that these two parts of him would battle one another long after they left the spider's lair.

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*******To Be Continued*******

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**Ahem, that's how it was started. Like it? Hate it? Let me know all right?**

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	2. The Invitation

**Hello Minna-sama, thank you so very much for your appreciation, I'm really touched by them *bows down*. **

**After 9 years, finally here's a new chapter, I always wanted to delve deeper into Sesshoumaru's head, I hope I did a passable job. Again, none of the Inuyasha's characters are mine. I'm just borrowing them from Tahashi Rumiko-sensei to ease the loneliness, now that the canon's over.**

**Enjoy, and I'd very much like to hear your thought **

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**Chapter 2 : The Invitation**

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Sesshoumaru has never truly slumbered; most of the times, meditating would be a more suitable word for what he did to rest, and on rare instances, drifting; contemplating about something that his mind chase and deconstruct to many, many things. Then those, he tried to rearrange into something more coherent; an explanation, a theory, a strategy, a decision. So far, he had found no such luck.

Staring, not seeing, at the clear night sky, he was lost on his thought. The yarn he was trying to unravel in his mind was Rin. The human whelp, the mortal infant, the twice-revived chatterbox that somehow had become a permanent fixture in his little entourage. The little fixture who had chosen to remain as part of their little nomad tribe, even when the war had been won, the archenemy vanquished, and she'd been given a choice to settle in a peaceful land amongst her own kind. Five years had passed since then.

She was no longer little.

He supposed it was his fault. He never really did think about her, not with her as the central of his logical reasoning way anyway. Eight years ago it had begun with mere curiosity; an experiment of what he thought was a piece of useless inheritance, the subject had been as good as any, might as well this dirty mortal urchin that has shown him more courage – be it from stupidity – than any of her kind. Then afterwards, it was always instinct; catch her when she falls, retrieve her when she's taken, shield her when she's got in the way, grunt an answer to avoid further tirade of questions. Almost by reflexes.

He had always, always told himself what a trouble this walking, talking babe of a subject, and had half a mind to kill her and be rid of it. But he had had so many things to do back then, it had always been forgotten. After all, snapping her tiny neck would be so easy he can do it anytime he wish, so he had better attended to a then more pressing matters. Rinse and repeat.

Then she had died. He hadn't killed her, but he might as well have. Everything hadn't made any sense after; he had chased, to the underworld, the hellhound that had swallowed her, killed it, killed the demon guardian of the hell, and purified countless wailing underworld denizen stranded on its wake. All of it and none had been good enough to bring her back. He closed his eyes; he could still feel the stab of disappointment and something else, something he couldn't name something that had made everything seemed worthless at that time. Something that must have shown on his person that had been enough to impress his mother that she'd been willing to use her power to revive her.

The relief following the sound of her heartbeat and the flutter of her opening eyelids had been just as immense. Something had been wrenched inside of him then; just as he had comforted her, he had comforted himself. "You are alright now." When those words had escaped his mouth, she had smiled. And cupping that tiny smiling face, he had known then, he would never think about snapping her neck again.

But never he thought he would think to nuzzle it. He shook his head; he had been so easily distracted lately.

When the shikon jewel had been destroyed, and that abominable spider youkai with it, and he had acquired his true sword, one more powerful than any of his father's legacy, one he had gotten by his own merit, he had thought he had the chance to let go of her. He shouldn't have asked, he shouldn't have given her a choice. What was it that made him do it? Pride?

He remembered, the old woman had goaded him to it, to make Rin choose, by implying that he had her against her own will. So he had done it, given her choices, that day... and he had been sure, but he couldn't remember whether it was because he had been certain that Rin would, of course, choose to live amongst her own kind rather than face daily threat of early demise following him; or if it was because he had been certain that she would prove that old hag of a miko that _she_ was wrong. That Rin indeed had followed him by her own will. Either way at the end of that strange day, he had been gloating, his steps leading away from the human infested land had been victorious, trailed by her smaller, skipping ones.

The same footsteps had been following him till now. Skipping, twirling, growing, occasionally wandering. Her curiosity still got the best of her, her questions ever so relentless, her laughter easy. But her touch got less frequent; her prank rarely at his (and his hair's) expense anymore and her sleepy, nighttime slip into the folds of his limbs had ceased. Well, that one he might have contributed to.

Almost by way of compensation, her scent got stronger, richer, layered with a touch of femininity that wasn't there before. Her voice got a deeper timbre that added a weighty lilt to her laugh. Her face, he puzzled, had not only gained angles that accentuated how disproportionately huge her eyes were, but had also gained myriad of new expressions he cannot fathom; not that he had tried to before. He had noticed these changes one by one, infrequent enough that it had not bothered him, or rather, he had been keeping his distance so he could observe without getting much fascinated. The bigger picture had been eluding him. Until yesterday.

He had only meant to cloth her properly, as earlier her growing out her old ones had been proven hazardous to her safety. He hadn't meant to give himself a figurative slap in the face; one he so deserved for forgetting that human, short as their lives were, also fast growing, up and old. This one was into a woman.

A _human_, woman. The very same weak useless kind that had been the downfall of his father.

An involuntary hiss escaped his lips. How this must have looked from youkaikind's eyes. The golden spider's unwarranted inquisitiveness, the glint in her eyes at his reaction, and he hadn't even remembered to demand her discretion. He hadn't been bothered to then, Rin had been holding his full attention. To say she looked different was an understatement. It had covered her exquisitely, yes, but it had also revealed something terribly distracting; a glimpse of what would become, a promise. He had had an epiphany then, like trouble was brewing, but it hadn't alarmed him, it was just like when something told him to let go of his attachment to Tessaiga, he had trusted it, he had not rejected it; he had been… excited.

Of what he couldn't understand yet.

Not about the surely oncoming rumor; he had never cared about them, there were always some, be it near truth, half truth or completely fabricated. It was so predictable the comparison they would make between him and his father. If it's any consolation they would of course arrive at how he is truly his father's son, when before he was his mother's. But then it's inevitable that they would, gleefully, predict the same downfall for him. Some had probably been plotting what to do with his land after, already. It was so amusingly absurd he almost snorted in contempt. Almost.

A human woman. He _would_ never. Never…

What?

Court? Bed? Mate? Breed with? The onslaught of thought made his hackles rise in disgust. He would _never_. A human woman. That one his father had, that _princess_ – what a farce – these caste and titles human bestows to select few of them, based on no merit whatsoever, they are _all_ mortal, _all_ weakling, _all_ the same. They need to thank their ability to breed fast and many, their number's their only weapon. No matter how noble, how rich, how at one time beautiful, they are temporary, and their blood dilutes true _youki_.

His father had been a fool whose indulgences went too far it was a permanent insult to his true mate and heir. A _living_, breathing mongrel of an insult. A halfbreed who couldn't even master his own blood… He cracked his knuckles; it had been a long time since he reminded him of his weakness, his mortality. Maybe he would give him a reminder in a near time. The reckless idiot was getting too cocky, living an idyllic life with his pesky mortal mate, repeating what their father had made; rutting out more mongrel offspring.

He would never…

Rin -

Rin was…

What?

These train of thought made him weary. The thread he had unraveled had somehow entangled him in it. Rin was his property, he reasoned. Her life was owed to him. She was his subject, to do with as he pleased.

But he had always rarely been pleased. And lately he was more often distracted than feeling contented. He needed to make her less distracting, more useful. Jaken had informally been tutoring her, and she was more than an apt student. But what she had been taught had little use in their nomadic life. He needed to settle her somewhere and this time; hell, he _would_ make her agree to it. It shouldn't be too hard to arrange, as it was evident last time that she wanted to experience the day surrounded by her kind without any association with his kind.

Yes. That's it. He would use that against her.

* * *

...

* * *

For all the excitement that had happened on the past two days, Rin was strangely restless when it was time to rest. Comfortably cushioned and blanketed, she had enough warmth from the fire she knew would last the whole night, which was mildly weathered, its air fragrant with the smell of fresh grass and sedated by the low hum of the night insect. Yet she tossed around and again.

Eventually she gave up and opened her eyes. The night was clear. She glimpsed the starry sky behind the screen of foliage sheltering the camp. She tossed away her blanket, the air inside her futon was getting too hot, and she hadn't accustomed to sleep in thicker, longer kimono her lord had given her to wear yet.

She sighed; welcoming chilly sensation on her skin, hoping the change would lull her to sleep. When it didn't come, she sighed some more and defeatedly rolled over to her side, scanning the perimeter. Jaken was on the other side of the fire, and she could make out Ah-Un nearby, both fast asleep. Her lord was nowhere in sight, she wondered if he's asleep or if he's somewhere appreciating the night sky or out hunting – killing – something. She wondered a lot about her lord lately.

She wished he were beside her, like he used to long ago, when she used to wake up cocooned in the warmth of his mokomoko. Of course it wouldn't cover all of her now, she'd grown so much bigger, probably why he'd given her own futon few summers before. She had been overjoyed then, and eager to sleep in it, as a little girl eager to try on a new present. She'd rather resented it now, finding herself terribly missing the silkiness of his fur against her skin, the calming, slow, steady beat of his heart, and his smell…

"Sesshoumaru-sama," she sighed.

"Sleep Rin."

She sat up, startled, whirled around to find her master perched on one of the low branches. She swore he hadn't been there a moment ago. Their gazes locked, and find herself stuttered, "I-I couldn't."

His golden eyes stared at her for a few more seconds before he jumped down, landed soundlessly on the ground and walked away without a word. Rin started, then hesitated. But when her lord paused his steps, she knew what he expected her to do. She got up and they resumed their quiet, distanced walk. She wondered when this was started, the distance. Long ago when he had given her that kind of unspoken leave to trail him, she would've done so with whooping noises, running to his side, laughing, scattering wild flowers she had picked along their journey on his steps. When did it become? This formality?

They walked past the clearing, towards the boulders on the edge of a cliff. She hesitated in following him climbing up, taking a few tentative steps before adjusting her attire – taking off her tabi and hiking the kimono hem up to her knees – to better suit the terrain. She looked up to find her master stood waiting, and when she almost closed their distance, just when she thought he'd turn and resume his pace again, he extended a hand.

"Drop your hem, I wont let you slip."

She nodded and took his hand. The grip was firm and the skin cool.

They arrived at the top. She gasped. He was, indeed, staying awake appreciating the night sky, from the best possible spot around. The sky was glittering, the black accentuated by dark blue and purple and sprinkled with countless stars, some clustered so densely it looked like a glittering river.

"Come," he tugged her hand, leading her to the edge. They sat down on a flat plane of a giant boulder; its surface still retained the heat from the day's sun.

They said nothing for a while. Enjoying the view, and the company.

It was the quiet lord youkai who broke the silence.

"Why did you leave Jaken on the market Rin?"

She looked at him. He still had his gaze on the sky.

"I wanted… ," she said, but then finding herself struggling to finish it. What did she want?

"… to see," she finished, lamely, after the silence stretched a moment too long.

"Humans?"

"Yes."

No. The Lord Youkai thought. She had wanted to mingle, to see what she had been missing, what she had given up.

"When I gave you the choice five years ago –"

"It hasn't changed!" she blurted. She had chosen to remain with him rather than live with her own kind at the Old Miko's village.

"–you were but an infant," he finished.

"I am no longer," she murmured.

He turned to look at her.

"Indeed," he said. She was growing into something else, was it not natural then, for her decision to change into something else as well?

She couldn't read the tone of his voice, and she didn't recognize the emotion that flitted just briefly on his golden eyes. Remorse? Curiosity? Annoyance? She used to be so good at reading her master's subtle range of expression. When did that change?

"Do you wish to send me away, Sesshoumaru-sama?" she gave voice to the only fear she has of him.

A second stretched too long before he answered, "I wish for you to do as you like."

"I'd like to stay by your side," she blurted, "I wanted to live with you!" again, she saw something shifted in his eyes, and for some reason she was embarrassed by her outburst, "… a-and Jaken-sama, and Ah-Un, too, " she added.

Her master's pauses began to torture her.

"You need a proper home," his level tone betrayed nothing.

"I had a home and lost it. Along with my family," she countered. "I made my own home now, My Lord," she added.

_So stubborn._ "And where is your home now, Rin?"

Why all these questions? Was he fishing an excuse to let her go? Or manipulating her to do it? She was curious all the time, why was that one time yesterday suddenly a big deal? Home? Where was hers indeed? Her family home burnt to the ground long time ago. What was home since their demise? Since then she had always felt that she belong on this demon lord's side, and they were always on progress, so where was she could call home? All her life, she had been with him longer than she had not.

"On Ah-Un's back," she answered.

Had she been more confident on her ability to read her master's reaction, she would have said his gaze softened. But as it was she wasn't very sure.

"You need a proper home," he repeated.

"I will not leave your side," she said defiantly.

"You don't know what it is to live with youkai-kind, Rin," he broke their gaze, "You don't know what it is for_ a human_ to live amongst my kind." _If it could still be called living at all_.

Rin felt a familiar pang of sadness twisted inside her chest. Human, that's all she was, is and ever going to be. Even so.

Even so…

She suddenly felt very tired, her body began to register the chilly night air, and her master seemed to have lost his interest in the conversation, his gaze back on the glittering sky. The mokomoko she misses so much just inches away…

_Even_ _so_…

Sesshoumaru felt a tug on his side. He shifted to found Rin's small hands buried of the soft fluff. Before he could react, the girl spoke, her voice small and quivering.

"So show me," her gaze locked on his. Deep brown pools wide open, brimming with emotions only a human capable to understand, "This Rin knows nothing…,"

_Humankind, youkaikind. Sesshoumaru is Sesshoumaru and Rin is Rin. Why can't it be that simple?_

She exhaled, her eyes welling up, "So would Sesshoumaru-sama show her–" She broke her gaze but her grip on him tightening. "–what it is to live amongst his kind…"

Tears, youkai shed them too, but Sesshoumaru never understood them, never wanted to, never needed to. This time he wondered why Rin shed them and why she buried her face on his mokomoko. He did not understand. Yet he allowed it. Yet for an inexplicable reason he found himself, reaching for her, like he always absentmindedly did long time ago, pulling her closer, enveloping her fragile, mortal body with his warmth.

He felt her tears soak through his clothes before it stopped. Her body stopped quivering and her breathing calmed down. He hadn't thought that this conversation would take this turn. It was unexpected. But no, he would not turn her down.

He would.

He would show her the worst possible kind of living a mortal must pay to be amongst his kind, if it could still be called that all. Then he would watch her back away in horror, settling herself somewhere far enough to no longer be a distraction.

He would break her soul. But it would mend, like he knew she would. If they were lucky it would sever whatever it was that bond them. It would be for the best. Before this strangeness of their relationship had a chance to evolve into something dangerous to them both.

"This Sesshoumaru will show you," he whispered. He'd be damned if she did not change her mind to stay with him after.

* * *

...

* * *

For a few seconds she had thought it was a dream. The softness of the fur, the warmth, the steady heartbeat; she missed those so much she had actually moaned and snuggled closer before she heard him.

"Rin."

She gasped, looking up, rubbing the sleep off her eyes to find Sesshoumaru's amber ones watching her, much much too closely.

She stammered his name as a reply before fully registered the position she's in. To her mortification she found herself draped on her lord youkai's lap. It wasn't something new, but it was novel now when her limbs had grown long enough to tangle with his.

She leaped to her feet, staggering, blushing, their conversation last night coming back to her. She must have had fallen asleep on him.

"Good morning, Sesshoumaru-sama," she managed.

And he had allowed her.

Jaken would have smacked her square, had he been there. "Most improper!" she could almost hear him saying.

The lord youkai gave her a barely perceptible nod. "It's almost noon. Jaken's preparing, we must make haste. Go lend him a hand," he dismissed.

"Hai!" she replied, almost too loudly, glad of the respite.

* * *

The journey they made lasted for three nights. Things had reverted back the way it was. And if Jaken knew of the sleeping incident, he had not commented on it.

They are heading down the mountain, towards the shore. The route, while peaceful and dotted with pretty late spring sceneries, was unfamiliar to her. Wherever the Lord Youkai of The West was leading them, he had not visited it in at least eight years.

At one point on the road, Jaken gasped, and even knowing full well his master would exercise a physical reprimand for his insolence, he still couldn't resist to pry, "_Masaka_! Sesshoumaru-sama, you do not possibly mean to accept Kanranseki's invitation?" he yelped.

His master stopped, but gave neither reply nor the expected reprimand. He simply paused and continued.

"Who is this Kanranseki, Jaken-sama?" Rin asked when their distance allowed her to.

The toad looked almost distracted. "Do you remember what I have told you about Jewel Islands, Rin?"

"Yes," she replied. A secluded cluster of Islands on the east, said accessible only by those with particular amount of youki. Domain of powerful youkais, each island was named after a precious stone.

"Kanranseki is the sovereign of Jade Isle," he said, not letting his eyes from his master's back, "Where –,"

"– every whim is served and every desire is indulged, for those who can afford them," she cut him off, reciting the line she had learnt about the place, "The Island of Pleasure." So had the scroll said, it sent a shiver down her spine.

What on earth would their master do?

* * *

**To Be Continued (soon)**

* * *

**That's the end of chapter two, not much happening eh? But I promised you some blood, gore and a teeny tiny bit of smut is coming (it's not in another 9 years, I promise, it's already half written, but I thought it would be too long to include in this chapter alone), and you'll get to meet the fabulous Mother of Sesshoumaru next chapter, also, Rin and Sesshoumaru's resolution towards each other. *wink wink***

**I'd still very much like to hear from you. Drop me a word! (or two or three or a sentence! I'm lonely!)**


	3. The Trial

**Hello Minna-san :D**

**Thank you soooo much for your appreciations, any kind of feedback will always be appreaciated.**

**I'm sorry I haven't gotten around to reply each of you personally (I will in the next chapter)**

**Meanwhile please do enjoy this chapter. Again and always, Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko-sensei, I merely borrow them as an outlet for my imagination.**

**No profit gained from this fic, except, always I hope, your attention,**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 3 : The Trial**

* * *

On the fourth night they camped at an abandoned shrine not far from the sea. Just before dawn Sesshoumaru awakened them all. Complaining sleepily, Jaken was about to prepare Ah-Un for further journey when his master stopped him.

"I will not be needing the dragon, Jaken, nor your service."

"M-my Lord?" the toad squeaked.

"You'll be a hindrance, stay and tend to the beast."

"Of course, Sesshoumaru-sama," he bowed deeply. It wasn't so unusual for his master to take care of his business without any entourage; it's a matter of efficiency.

"Rin."

One syllable shattered his illusion of normalcy.

The toad and the girl stared at each other, mouth gaping. He's taking her and her only, this had never happened before.

The girl squeaked a reply before hastily got up and started to trail him.

A mixture of disbelieve, curiosity and anxiety bordering on paranoia, not to mention a tinge of jealousy, rendered Jaken's speech unintelligible, "B-but, Wh-, Sesshoumaru-samaaaaaaaaaa…!" he wailed.

But he stayed behind, sniffing, muttering curses under his breath that this would not end well. And his master hadn't so much spared him a single glance back. Rin threw him one though, a bit unsettled by the arrangement.

* * *

...

* * *

They walked to the edge of a cliff. The world was stirring, the sea calm; dark blue with the very first faint orange glow from the rising sun. He stopped one step away from the precipice, and just when Rin about to ask him what he was going to do, he took something out from his sleeve.

A pearl, pretty, if an unusual one; it was dark-coloured, tinted with iridescent hue of blue, green and purple. He muttered something too fast and too complicated for Rin's ear to catch, and flicked the tiny pearl away to the sea.

Then, from where it hit the water, a ripple boomed. So sudden, and so fast, it had not only caused a roaring sound of the crashing wave, but also sent tremors on the solid ground. Rin staggered, gasped. Just as suddenly it came it was gone.

"Rin, on my back."

She gaped. Not really sure of what she had been told to do.

"Now," he growled.

She climbed on his back, awkward and unsure, but did her best to position herself the way that miko from the future often climb on the back of her master's hanyou brother. She never did this before; it was always Ah-Un's back, or on rare occasion, a tight hold on her master's mokomoko would be enough. She felt the familiar fur pelt constrict itself around her body, securing her tight, tight.

Without warning he jumped off.

She let out a startled shriek, one hand clutching her master's haori, the other his armor, bracing herself for whatever would hit next; water, jagged rocks. But it was just wind, salty and slapping. She opened her eyes, not realizing she had closed them.

Vast, endless horizon in front of them, dark blue sky tinted by dawn met its mirror image; rippling dark blue water stained by orange. She glanced back and saw the land shrinking behind them; her master's silver fur pelt and silver hair tangled with her own dark tresses trailing wildly, played by the wind.

They were running. On water.

Or something on its surface. She could feel it; something solid her master's feet landed on, every leaping step he took. Her whole body could feel him, his every fluid motion, every tension coiled and released by his muscles, every steady breath taken and let out. She had seen him move like this from a distance countless times, and admired him every single one. But to experience it on her own was beyond exhilarating. She could die, or start laughing, or scream in joy.

This, this feeling she was experiencing with her lord youkai, she would never trade with anything else. The freedom, the adventure, and the reassurance of being protected. Not with anything.

He heard her making noises. Carefree, whooping noises he hadn't heard from her for a while. He felt her hands snaking around his armor, seeking a better grip around his neck. Her breath was tickling his ears and hot on his neck, her excitement contagious. It tugged at something inside of him. He felt guilt creeping its tendrils, for what he about to subject her to. But it was necessary for she had given him no choice. He gritted his teeth and sped faster.

Few minutes passed without any incident. Then came a sound. Low and screeching. Rin looked back to search for its source. She saw dark cloud rising, spreading from the silhouetted land they just jumped off from. It seemed to be heading towards them. And as it drew nearer the sound it was making made sense.

Not cloud. Bats. Thousand and thousands of bats.

"Sesshoumaru-sama," she said, alarmed. She felt her master slowing. The noises grew louder, screeching sounds amplified by something else – youki – Rin can sense them. And all of the sudden she felt a ringing pain inside her head.

"Cover your ears. Whatever happened do not let them exposed," she heard him said amongst the noises. Before she had a chance to do what he had told though, she felt his fur pelt climbing and tightening on both side of her face, effectively covering her ears. She put her hands on it, just to be safe.

The world grew muted.

The swarms of bats were almost upon them. There were explosions on the water and the air, she could sense the heat and the blast. Then the lesson about the Islands of The Jewels came back to her mind. There were trials for those who seek to pay a visit, even when invited.

_For in exchange of the promised pleasure, pain was a plenty._

_Cover your ears for your mind would not be left wholly._

Sesshoumaru had stopped running, he turned back to face the oncoming threat. His stance relaxed. He flexed his claws, readying his poison.

It was a strange experience, watching her master fight without a sound of a battle, not to mention from the vantage point on his back. He leaped at them, slashing and clawing, flicking his poison here and there, sometimes dodging the youki blast from their mouth, but always, always landed firmly on his feet, on top whatever it was they are threading on the water's surface. She wondered if she hindered his movement, and briefly worried she's going to topple out without her hands gripping him. But the mokomoko fastened on her so securely, she couldn't even if she tried.

There were so many – too many of them. Seeing them kept coming even after he does mortal damage to ones approaching earlier, he took a several backward leaps, putting some distance between them. He took out Bakusaiga.

Single slash from the sword was all it took to eradicate the hordes of those winged rats. Bits of their scorched bodies fell to the water some distance away. It would have been much simpler to use Bakusaiga from the moment they saw them approaching. But Rin had understood from experience that the Lord Youkai of The West was not in the habit of squandering his weapon and its ougi. He'd only use them against those he deemed worthy, or if it's an urgent matter. Swarm of bats was hardly worthy of him, then whatever awaited them on the island must have been of great importance.

He sheathed the sword and resumed their speedy journey. Rin felt the pelt around her face loosening.

"Are you hurt?"

"No," she answered, her hands seeking a hold around his neck and shoulders, "I'm alright, Sesshoumaru-sama," her breath tickling his ears.

"We are not safe yet," he said. They were getting closer, he could feel it, which mean the next obstacle would be more powerful. Good, he thought. As much as he hated to put Rin on danger, he loathed weak opponents; they were a waste of time.

Rin could feel it too. The heavy, ominous youki in the air. Then she could see the water surrounding them change colour. The dark blue tinted by lighter one, and purple and pink. She was about to comment on its strange loveliness when she realized that it wasn't the water afterall but something in it, under the surface. She couldn't make the shape of it clearly because of the speed her at which the youkai lord carried her, but it looked so much like small sail–

Something splashed, and she heard Sesshoumaru hiss. But they kept running.

Then she saw it, a red welt that appeared along his right jaw, cutting in the magenta markings on his cheek. Like the one appeared on her skin long time ago after the caning she had received from the villager for poaching fish from their reserve.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!?" she managed, alarmed.

"Quiet Rin. Brace yourself," he replied briskly, annoyed that he had been distracted enough to allow whatever it was to have the first strike.

He unsheathed his claws; Rin could see them glowing green with poison, ready to strike. What it was to strike, she couldn't make out yet. Bits of her lesson coming back to her.

_Water that quenches no thirst, is the battleground chosen._

_Army of the sea, in lovely colours they are risen._

More splashes. This time her master was ready. They leaped; he tore and flicked his poison at seemingly thin air while she tried to see the nature of their assailant. More and more splashes. Still they were running forward, if gradually getting slower. Dodging, slashing, and at one point, Rin saw everything turned upside down in a blurry confusion and realized a second later that he had somersaulted, and her with him.

Tentacles, they were what had been making the splashing noise and attacking them. They appeared to be translucent, some tinged by vivid colours. They are the cause of the water's apparent change of colour. There must have been hundreds – thousands of them, clustered around bobbing translucent things that floats on water, their shape reminded Rin of a sailboat. She wondered what they are.

A blur of pink, Rin felt a wet slapping sensation on her right thigh. Then a sudden terrible pain; it burned and sting at the same, a pain so sharp and potent it choked her silent. She gasped, clutching tighter, sweat broke on her skin and tears started pouring out of her eyes.

She heard Sesshoumaru cursed under his breath,

"Fucking jellyfishes."

So that's what they are, she thought dizzily. The pain makes it difficult to register what was happening around her. She saw the glow of her master's poison whip. He hated that fighting technique, she noted mentally. Dark patches were eating the edge of her vision. She felt her position shifted, she saw his face, felt his arm around her; he was saying something, she couldn't make it out. Then she was laying on something hard, water around them. He wrenched her fists open, positioning her fingers around some length – a sword. Tenseiga? It pulsated in her hands, and somehow it was reassuring. She clung to the sword.

She didn't know what happened next.

When she came to, she saw his face looking down at her, the welt on his face already fading. But the pain she was feeling was still throbbing heavily. She groaned.

For some reason he put his arm in front of her mouth.

"This will hurt, Rin."

She was about to ask what had happened, or what he was about to do when, she felt his claws on her thigh, where the pain throbbed the most. Then came the acidic fume of his poison.

Then, a searing, blinding pain.

By Kami-sama did it hurt! She screamed this time, and it jolted her up to a sitting position. The pain did not subside; it grew, spreading along her injured leg. Now she knew why he put his hand there. She bit it to stave off the strain of pain, as it has exhausted the air in her lungs.

Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth, and finished what he started, cauterizing Rin's wound with his own poison; burning all the remaining venom from the tentacle. Granted, it wasn't the most effective – or convenient – way to treat the wound, but it would just have to do for now. Her bite on his arm was vicious; it must have hurt her a lot.

When the worst of it had subsided, she released her bite on his master's arm. She could see the bleeding bite mark on it; she would've been mortified if she had been fully conscious. Wordlessly, Sesshoumaru moved the bitten arm to her back, supporting her weight.

She took a look at her feet, and saw the damage. Her hem was torn, the gash looked as if it was burned, and red welts crisscrossed her right leg from ankle to mid-thigh. Red welts similar to the one she saw earlier on her master's face, but worse.

"I stopped it from spreading. But I cannot make it go away just yet."

She didn't know why she smiled at his words and why the next thing she said was, "Oh it's ruined, My Lord. You shouldn't have given me nice clothes," she whimpered, biting her lips.

He stared at her, "You say the silliest things."

She took a look around. Everything was dampened by sweat and seawater sprays. She was sitting on something solid, a path stretching thinly just above the water's surface, its colour iridescent black like the pearl her master had thrown over the cliff, the sword Tenseiga was on her side; it must have created a kekkai to protect her during the fight.

Sesshoumaru's perching on her other side, not a hair out of place now that the welt on his face had completely disappeared, his arm still supporting her. The battle was, again, won by Bakusaiga. Bits and pieces of the things that had assaulted them floating on the water around them. Dead, their flesh turned an opaque colour of pale blue.

"Jellyfish?"

"Not quite. Close enough, but worse."

"Are we going to the Island of Jewels, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

He nodded, "Can you walk?"

"Why?" she asked, trying to stand up. Her leg buckled under her weight.

He looked visibly stiffen, but did not give her an answer. He steadied her by putting his arms around her shoulders.

To Rin's amazement, as he turned and she thought he was about to resume their journey – this time she'd trail him with an injured leg – he kneeled, presenting her his back.

"Make haste Rin," he said after few seconds passed without her moving.

"… hai!" Rin closed her gaping mouth and proceed to climb on his back the second time, wincing as she tried to bend her right leg on the side of his waist, the wound was still tender, every movement stung.

She felt his hand on the leg, caressing her thigh before settling on the back of her knee, effectively straightening it. "Don't bend it just yet," she heard him saying as his fur pelt resettling in to secure her. His right hand stayed there as they picked up their pace.

Rin was so glad that Sesshoumaru couldn't see the blush spreading on her cheeks.

* * *

...

* * *

Everywhere she looked was water. She wondered how far this island was, and how many hordes of creatures her master needed to defeat before they finally reach it. She couldn't sense much youki in the air anymore. She tried to remember her lesson, looking for any clues of what they would face next.

_Path that is as perilous as it was solid._

_Tokens, one to be taken and another given by the guardian of it._

It was gradually getting colder, which was strange, considering it was early morning and the sun was already up in the sky, it should have been getting warmer.

But colder and colder it went, until Rin realized that she could see her own breath frosting. The sea, too, turned opaque as its surface glazed with thin coat of ice. The colour of the surrounding too, got gradually desaturated, as if something put a transparent white veil on it. Rin would not be surprised if snow started falling any given minute. But it didn't.

Instead they saw something standing on their path, a creature. There was no youki emanating from it, so it was either an animal or a considerably powerful youkai who could conceal its youki.

Sesshoumaru stopped some distance away from it. By then Rin could make out its shape. A bird, a peacock. Its plumage fanned in its full splendour. It was not exactly the bird with myriad of colours Rin saw on the scrolls of her lesson. It was mostly pristine white, but for the splash of iridescent blue and green on a part of its neck, half of its body, and a portion of its fanned tail. As if whatever had coloured it white changed its mind at the last minute and decided to smear some colour on its remaining part.

And it was huge. Its slender neck was taller than her. Its plumage spanned vast enough to block the low hanging morning sun.

"Stay on my back, be wary of the ice." Sesshoumaru said, his hand gently releasing her injured leg. Rin stood on her feet. Her right leg still throbbed when she put her weight on it, but it was much better than it was before. The sea around them had completely frozen, the path they were threading on visible only by a scrutinizing view through the ice.

"Greetings, Sesshoumaru-sama, Daiyoukai of The West," a voice came from the peacock without it opening its silvery beak. It was a youkai.

"Hanyou," he hissed his reply, "Finally, something sentient that talks. Is this how Kanranseki receive a guest who come to answer an invitation?" by having him meet this lowly halfbreed? He could smell its mortal blood from miles away.

The peacock inclined its head in a humble gesture, "I am but a lowly vassal of Kanranseki-sama. The invitation, Sesshoumaru-sama, is to be earned both to be given and to be answered," it said.

"Suppose now I should kill you to get to the island?" he said, sounding almost bored.

"If it pleases My Lord, you only have to take two of my feathers. One white and one col-," it never got the chance to finish.

Sesshoumaru took into the air, claws drawn, aiming straight at the bird's exposed fan. It closed the fanned plumage just in time and unfolded its white wings to block his attack. But the Lord Youkai was too fast for the bird. In less than three moves Rin heard the avian shrieking.

In a blur her master was standing in front of her again, with more than few feathers on his fist, white ones and colored ones. He raised them at the bird. But before he had the chance to say anything the white feathers disintegrated into dust in his hand.

"The white one, Sesshoumaru-sama, you should take from me by my own leave. It must be given," the bird said, regaining its composure. "Colored ones must be taken, which you have succeeded," it said calmly, folding its wings, a gesture Rin found so human.

The daiyoukai stood still, thinking. He flexed his fingers, letting the richly colored feathers fell scattered to the ice. Rin gasped, and forgetting what his master had told her, and made a move to gather them.

The bird's eyes caught her.

"The human girl, is she with you, Sesshoumaru-sama?" it asked.

"She's under my protection," he said flatly, irritated to be distracted. What should he do to get the hanyou's white feather? Sneaking on it would not make it give it up, so was using his speed, he could break the ice and emerge when it least suspected it. Was threatening it to give up its feather violating the rule? If so what can he do? Wait for it to molt?

"What is your name, Little One?" it asked Rin.

"Rin," she answered before Sesshoumaru had any chance to stop her, "And yours?" she didn't know what prompted her to ask it; it's just seemed polite to do so after he acknowledged her presence.

"My name is Shirahaze," the bird dipped its head.

All the while Sesshoumaru's silent; assessing the situation. Behind him Rin could feel the air getting colder and colder. The ice coating the sea's surface was now an opaque white, and she could no longer feel the pain in her leg, nor her skin. The cold numbed her senses, her teeth began to chatter. She wished she could do something to help her master.

"Little Rin," the bird said.

"Do not talk to her," Sesshoumaru growled. His stoic face betrayed nothing of the budding frustration inside of him as he looked for a strategy. He was more and more inclined to kill the bird and be done with it, even risking its owner's wrath.

"Little Rin," the bird ignored him, "You may assist your master," it said.

Rin let out a gasp of surprise. It was a rare thing for her to asked to participate in something like this by a supernatural being – or as his master had called it – a half supernatural being. She couldn't see it but she'd bet her life what the bird had just said offended Sesshoumaru greatly.

But it was so _so_ cold. She puffed her breath on her numb hands. She needed to do something, even as silly as she thought it was.

"Shirahaze-sama," she started.

"Rin," warned his master.

"… may we, please, have your white feather, Shirahaze-sama?" she asked, also deciding to risk her master's ire by ignoring his order.

It had never occurred to The Daiyoukai of The West to literally _asking_ the bird for the feather. Part of him was furious at both of these lesser creatures who were virtually ignoring him. But he was interested on how the event had been unfolding so far, as silly as it looked. As if the creature would give it up just by being asked.

The bird cocked its head, considering. "What do you have to offer me in exchange, Little One?"

Rin gulped. "This Rin has nothing… but gratitude," she said, sheepishly.

"This Shirahaze prefers something to keep," the bird said.

"Would you like to keep your feathers back? We only needed one." she offered the handful she had gathered when Sesshoumaru discarded them. Her face was burning. Such a ridiculous thing, too, but, she had to try.

The peacock whipped its head forward. Rin fancied that it was an avian equivalent of snorting.

"Keep them. They may help you. I have no need to keep what were once mine. Have you anything else, Little Rin?

She didn't.

But she could do something else.

"Would you keep a song? In your memory?" she asked hesitantly. She had always liked to sing, his master never commented on it but he always allowed her and when asked, Jaken always blurted out vague things that could either be a backhanded compliment or a direct insult, so she didn't know if she's any good. But Ah-Un liked it, so it may sound not too bad for animal ears. She hoped.

The bird cocked its head to the other side, "Have you a song about the land?"

"Yes!" she said, excited, "About the mountains, the forest and the meadows!"

"Then this Shirahaze would like to hear if it's worth the memory to keep."

She took a step forward. Her gaze caught that of her master's. He looked calm and unruffled as usual, but she did wonder if she had offended him by taking the liberties of negotiating with the bird. "Sesshoumaru-sama…?" she squeaked.

"I have no care for bartering, Rin," he said, shifting his stance, giving her a room on the thin ice-covered path to approach the bird.

She took it as an approval, and stepped forward. Slightly wobbling on her feet, the cold was biting now. She wondered if this was going to take a toll on her voice.

Then she felt something warm around him, and glanced back to find her master, standing closely, allowing his fur pelt to constrict around her, providing just enough warmth to still her shivering nerves.

Burying her cold hands on the fur pelt, she inhaled deeply. Recalling the memory of the beauty of the land she traveled all these years with her master.

Then she sings. About the lazy summer days in the Western lands, its gentle breeze, its generous sunlight. She sings about the green meadows, the rustle of tall leaves on her hands, scent of thousand flowers on the air.

She sings about autumn, the flaming redness of momiji leaves framing the blue mountains. She sings about the winter, the footprints she made on the thickly falling snow; and the spring, where everything starts anew under the shower of cherry blossom petals.

Her voice was clear, and Sesshoumaru realized, it was completely uninterrupted. The wind had ceased, and the sound of distant waves had completely disappeared. At some point in the song, the bird closed its eyes.

The peacock closed its eyes still, even after the song had ended. Rin wanted to approach it, to ask whether it would keep her song in exchange of its white feather, but Sesshoumaru's mokomoko held her firmly in her spot.

The bird opened his eyes. Then with a slow, languid movement, it approached Rin. She could feel her master tensing behind her, ready to strike should anything unwanted happened.

Up close she saw the eyes of the bird. They were differently colored. Its left was silver gray, the right clear green, with a fraction of it marred by the gray.

"Little Rin," it said, "you may take my feather," it tilted its magnificently displayed plumage, giving her access to reach it.

She extended a hand, caressing planes of feathers. "Does it hurt, Shirahaze-sama?" the question just jumped out of her mouth.

The bird looked taken aback. In a span of few minutes, this little mortal girl had asked it two questions it never been asked before by any hopeful candidates seeking passage to the island.

"Like your hair being plucked," it answered.

"Then I apologize beforehand," she said, her hands holding one of the white stems of its feather. She exhaled and yanked it free as hard as she could, hoping that the speed would dull the biting sensation. It slid free into her hand.

Rin admired it. Unmarred by violence, it was long, almost as tall as herself, and exquisite. It held an impossible colour ranging from pristine white to iridescent pearl, and where his colored feather had a vivid turquoise eyespot on its tip, this one had a huge, clear, translucent one. She put it in front of her eyes instinctively, testing the see-through quality of it.

She gasped; through it she didn't see a huge bird. She saw someone; a person with eyes the same color as the avian's. She was about to say something when the bird put the tip of its wing on her lips, silencing her and at the same time causing her master to snarl threateningly.

"Cease this farce and take us to your island, Halfbreed. Now. Or I'll take it that you want me _to earn_ the end of your pitiful existence," he hissed.

The bird bowed deeply, stepping back.

After some distance away she looked up to the sky and let out a long, wailing squawk.

The ice cracked, the solid white plane on their surroundings disintegrating with a rumble. The cold was subsiding.

It spread both its wings. Rin could see the iridescent green and blue striation on their inner folds; it seemed to grow more magnificent by the minute.

It looked at both of them.

"Welcome to the Island of The Jewels, pleasure seekers," it said, before taking a flight, disappearing behind the clouds.

Unhindered by the opacity of cold surroundings and the bird's magnificent plumage, they could see silhouettes of lands not far away.

* * *

...

* * *

Sesshoumaru carried Rin the rest of the way by the same manner he carried the injured girl before. He was wary; he wanted to get this folly over as quickly as possible, showing Rin what she needed to see, enough to make her change her mind about her living arrangement. He was mildly irritated as well, for it was Rin who had won them the final passage to the island.

A morbid irony, all things considered.

He really should have killed the bird the second he saw it, and claimed ignorance should its owner ask for a compensation.

Rin, on the other hand, was beyond excited. She was so thrilled to have managed to persuade the bird to give her its feather. Curious too, about the person she saw through the translucent eyespot of the white feather. She tucked the feathers carefully on the back of her obi; It had told her to keep them, they might be of help. She wondered what they were for.

There were no shore on the island, no sandy beaches like most island had. Instead, the water bordered directly with greeneries. One step they were on the water's surface and the next they were stepping on think cushion of green moss.

Sesshoumaru let her down gently. The softness of the moss beneath her feet was soothing to the constant dull throb on her light leg. He did not walk in front of her like he usually did; he walked beside her. One of his hands bracing her elbow. It bewildered Rin.

In fact, everything on the island bewildered her. It was beautiful. Richly so. As if every inch of it was ornamented by exotic creatures serving as living decorations. The thick, deep green moss carpeted the ground was dotted by tiny colourful mushrooms, some scattering wildly, some grew in perfect circles. Everywhere her eyes look was green foliage serving as background to clusters of blossoms and low hanging fruits. Thick tendrils of roots and vines seemed to grow following an intricate patterns. Every colour held an iridescent quality about it. The island stunned them.

"Come," his voice broke her reverie. He tugged her gently.

She wobbled, and letting her master taking the lead, she scanned her surrounding. She noticed the animals; a turtle, its carapace blending perfectly with the mossy ground; a stag, its antlers blending in with the hanging vines; horde of butterflies she previously mistaken as a cluster of flowers.

There was a sweet scent on the air. It made her feel light-headed. And something was strange. It was completely silent; no noises, no voices. Every creature stood still, as if waiting for something.

"Sesshoumaru-sama…," she tugged on his sleeve, "Why…?"

She never got to finish her sentence, everything went dark. The last thing she registered was how thick and soft the moss felt against her cheek…

* * *

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To Be Continued

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**End of Chapter 3! Ack! I'm sorry I know I know it's 5000+ words I promise you the fabulous Mother of Sesshoumaru, but this story writes itself now, I am under its control so you will have to wait a couple more chapters for it. I initially imagine this story about Rin/Sesshoumaru romance story but turned out it got quite a bit of fairytale adventure in it; I guess I really really missed the adventurous ambient of the canon story (I'm a sucker for saga storyline). I do hope I don't disappoint you. This chapter's still more of a characters study. But I promise you I promise you the advertised blood gore and smut is coming up next, they are after all, have arrived in the Island of Pleasure, so stay tuned.**

**And if you're curious what's the 'jellyfish' attacking Rin and Sesshoumaru, go google Portuguese Man o' War, it's so pretty and so lethal. Not exactly jellyfishes but more of an organism made of polips. Oh and the creature inspiring my OC Shirahaze is a hybrid peacock, a cross between white peacock and blue peacock, see picture here (remove spaces) inotternews wp-content/ uploads/ 2012/ 03/ white-blue-peacock. jpg, exquisite creature isn't? I just had to make it a character (its name Shirahaze's from 3 different kanji ****白 ****shiro= white, ****羽 ****ha=feather/plumage, and ****是 ****ze = justice)**

**From the bottom of my heart I thank you all for the appreciation. I cannot get enough of it. I want to hear what you think of the story so far, which part is your favorite and what do you think I can do to improve it. Please do review. Thank you so much for reading. See you on the next chapters :) (no it would not not be in 9 years, alright, only the 1st chapter written in 2003, it was re-written this year and the rest was recent, got the whole plot inside my head, I promise you I'd finish this one)**

~Quincette


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